Canada-South-Korea free trade deal would cost thousands of jobs, says union study
Canada Press | 24 October 2007
Canada-South-Korea free trade deal would cost thousands of jobs, says union study
OTTAWA — Fearing Canada is preparing to sign a free trade deal with South Korea, the Canadian Auto Workers has called on the three opposition parties in Ottawa to vote down any agreement in order to save Canadian jobs.
CAW president Buzz Hargrove and municipal leaders from such Ontario manufacturing towns as Windsor, St. Catharines and Woodstock met with MPs from all four parties Tuesday armed with an internal analysis that predicts the trade deal would cost over 33,000 jobs.
"We believe this is one issue the three parties should set aside all their partisan differences and come together and make sure, if an agreement is reached, the Parliament rejects that agreement," he said.
South Korean and Canadian negotiators met in Ottawa last week and are scheduled to meet again in Seoul at the end of November for the 12th round in talks. Hargrove said he believes the two countries are close to penning a deal, but Trade Minister David Emerson’s office refused to speculate.
The auto union has been the leading critic of the negotiations, fearing substantial losses in the sector, but CAW’s chief economist Jim Stanford said the job losses would affect almost all sectors and all regions of Canada.
The analysis is based on a review of the impacts on imports and exports of Canada’s previous five free trade agreements, and forecasts that imports from south Korea will outstrip exports to that country.
Adding to the imbalance, Canada’s current top exports to the Asian country are in the low-employment resource sector, particularly mining and wood products, whereas South Korea’s exports to Canada feature job-rich value-added goods like autos, TVs, computers and electronic circuits.
The analysis forecasts Ontario and Quebec stand to lose the most - about 17,400 jobs and 8,300 jobs respectively, mostly in the manufacturing sector. But even resource-rich provinces like Alberta and British Columbia will lose more jobs than they gain.
"There is no part of Canada in which the employment gain is offset by the job losses," said Stanford. "Which leads us to the question, why are they doing this? They are doing this based on faith and ideology alone."
Earlier in the month, the CAW predicted Canada would experience the largest automotive trade deficit in its history this year, with an $8-billion deficit in the value of vehicles and parts leaving the country, as opposed to entering.
While on a smaller scale, Hargrove said a trade deal with South Korea would only make matters worse, arguing that although a free trade agreement could result in the removal of an eight per cent tariff on Canadian automobiles, it will not increase auto exports to that country.
South Korea currently exports 153 times more autos and parts into Canada than the reverse, the CAW says. Canada exported $11 million in the sector last year, as opposed to absorbing $1.7 billion from the Asian country.
"The tariff hasn’t been a problem, we just can’t get into South Korea," Hargrove said, adding that South Korea uses a variety of non-trade barriers to discourage imports.
"If you buy an import (vehicle) in South Korea, you’d better be prepared to have your taxes audited," he alleged.
Windsor city councillor Ken Lewenza said at a press conference that his border town has been devastated by the strong Canadian dollar and a South Korea free trade deal "would be another nail in the coffin."
Windsor’s current jobless rate is 9.9 per cent, one of the highest in Canada, and well above the national average of 5.9 per cent.
